Human Resources Generalist

Vertex Education; Chandler (AZ); On-site; USD 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Vertex Education in Chandler, AZ is seeking an HR Generalist to serve as a foundational anchor for internal operations. The role balances high-touch employee support with compliance, handling multi-state leaves, Workday data integrity, and coaching managers to implement fair, consistent processes.

You will triage Zendesk inquiries, maintain HR records, administer benefit programs, and support offboarding and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Investigate and mediate employee relations issues using CaseIQ to ensure fair, documented resolutions.
• Coach managers through conflict resolution and performance interventions.
• Enforce progressive discipline with documented warnings and established steps.
• Triarge Zendesk HR tickets and provide high-touch internal support.
• Categorize and resolve tickets using policy guidelines for rapid responses.
• Review daily requests to improve HR documentation and self-service resources.
• Navigate multi-state leave requirements with the Director of HR to ensure compliant accommodations.
• Track and document leave requests in line with state regulations.
• Maintain compliance records and generate reports for audits and risk mitigation.
• Administer benefits programs and assist with enrollments and changes.
• Oversee offboarding, asset recovery, and system deactivation.
• Update Workday with lifecycle changes and reporting lines.

Job description

Be the one who makes a difference!

At Vertex Education we are a team of high achievers, courageous leaders, and passionate believers in changing lives through education. As a purpose-led education services provider, our mission is destined to benefit many and yet it starts with just one person inspired to work together with us to make a memorable and meaningful difference for our clients, schools, students, and communities. Be the one who makes a difference-with us.

At Vertex Central Services, the HR Generalist serves as the foundational anchor for our internal corporate operations, advancing our mission of changing lives through education by ensuring our team is exceptionally supported and expertly guided. In this critical role, you will balance high-touch, immediate employee assistance with systemic rigor, managing everything from complex multi-state leave compliance and Workday data integrity to empathetic conflict mediation. By establishing consistent progressive discipline protocols and coaching managers toward independence, you will protect the organization from compliance vulnerabilities while fostering a highly fair and trusting workplace. Whether you are rapidly resolving a Zendesk inquiry, navigating nuanced accommodations, or piloting novel sentiment analysis tools to extract insights during offboarding, you will act as a stabilizing force who transforms reactive HR challenges into a resilient, capable corporate backbone.

Essential Functions:

Employee Relations & Manager Coaching:

• Investigate and mediate employee relations issues using CaseIQ to establish fair, consistent, and well-documented resolutions for Vertex Central Services employees.
• Coach managers through conflict resolution and performance interventions, building their independent capability to handle team dynamics effectively.
• Enforce progressive discipline protocols rigorously by guiding leaders to issue documented warnings and follow established steps rather than accommodating requests for immediate terminations.
• Identify underlying policy misunderstandings during standard conflict mediation and recommend targeted training or communication updates to prevent recurring issues.

Employee Support Operations:

• Manage the Zendesk HR ticketing queue by triaging and responding to a high volume of varied inquiries daily.
• Provide immediate, high-touch support to internal employees facing urgent issues, pausing administrative routines when necessary to ensure team members are assisted.
• Categorize and resolve employee support tickets using established policy guidelines to maintain rapid response times and build trust across the corporate team.
• Review daily support requests to identify common themes and use those insights to refine internal HR documentation, FAQs, and self-service resources.

Compliance & Leave Administration:

• Navigate complex, multi-state leave requirements and accommodations by collaborating closely with the Director of HR or outside counsel to find compliant, empathetic workarounds.
• Track and document all leave of absence requests, ensuring precise adherence to varying state regulations and internal organizational policies.
• Maintain detailed compliance records and generate standardized reports to support internal audits, regulatory checks, and risk mitigation.
• Serve as the definitive resource for Central Services employees regarding state, federal, and organizational HR compliance inquiries.

Benefits Administration:

• Administer employee benefit programs, including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, FSA/HSA, and retirement plans.
• Support benefit enrollments, qualifying life event changes, and annual open enrollment activities.
• Serve as a point of contact for employee benefit inquiries and issue resolution.
• Maintain benefits records and ensure compliance with applicable federal and state regulations, including ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, and ERISA requirements.
• Assist with benefits communications, employee education, and wellness initiatives.
• Audit benefit eligibility and enrollment data to ensure accuracy within HRIS and payroll systems.

Offboarding & Cultural Insights:

• Execute the full offboarding process for departing Central Services employees, handling asset recovery, system deactivation coordination, and transition logistics.
• Consolidate and review exit interview feedback regularly to identify actionable trends regarding corporate employee retention and satisfaction.
• Collaborate with IT and other teams to ensure proper system access deactivation and exit processes are completed.

HR Data Guardianship:

• Conduct data audits within Workday to identify and correct entry errors, verifying accuracy for organizational planning.
• Maintain the integrity of core HR records by enforcing standardized data entry procedures, and proposing efficiencies to strengthen procedures.
• Update and verify employee lifecycle changes directly in Workday, including title updates, compensation adjustments, and reporting line shifts.
• Balance